Tom Coburn: “If we are talking about keeping commitments, everybody in this body committed not to spend Social Security money on…”

“If we are talking about keeping commitments, everybody in this body committed not to spend Social Security money on anything but Social Security. That is what we are putting at risk. Number two, where is the question about why it should cost $24 per person in this country to take the census when it cost $11 in 1990, which I find ridiculously high. There is no accountability for the numbers that have been put forward in the budget. There is no efficiency for it. Even if we pass this amendment, there will be money for the census. We will bring money back for the census. Our job as Members of this body is to pay for the things that the American public want and need. I agree we need to fund the census. I agree that we need to be honest with the American public about this not being an emergency and us not having to account for it. The real issue is do we have the courage to reduce the spending somewhere else to make the appropriate dollars for the census?”